overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chops.

plural of chop

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/t͡ʃɑps/General-American/t͡ʃɒps/Received-Pronunciation
  1. plural of chop

    form-of · plural · plural-only
  2. Jaws, lips, mouth.

    plural · plural-only · slang
  3. One's skill at musical interpretation and delivery; musical performance ability.

    plural · plural-only
    Although the bass player had no experience playing in New Orleans, the crowd's enthusiastic response showed that he had the chops to make it in the very particular Crescent City jazz scene.
  4. One's skill at any endeavor; ability, talent; competency.

    broadly · informal · plural · plural-only
    Although he did not know all of the ins and outs of the newsroom, he had the writing chops to become a regular contributor.
  5. The area where two tides meet and cause an irregular (choppy) sea.

    plural · plural-only
  6. A pattern that involves carrying the object with the hand over the next object before throwing it.

    plural · plural-only
  7. Food.

    Australia · Nigeria · plural · plural-only · slang
Where this word comes from

From the plural of chop (“jaw, side of a harbour”). The jazz slang sense “musical ability” is a reference to the use of the lips to blow instruments.

verb/t͡ʃɑps/General-American/t͡ʃɒps/Received-Pronunciation
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of chop

    form-of · indicative · present · singular · third-person
    He chops wood all day.
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb/t͡ʃɑps/General-American/t͡ʃɒps/Received-Pronunciation
  1. Alternative form of chopse.

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

chops has 5 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

chops studiochops workshello, chops

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.